Make It Do

Do you spend a lot of money on things that you don’t really need? Impulse buying, pointless purchasing or simply shopping when there’s nothing better to do: we’ve all done it before and don’t usually think a whole lot of it … that is, until our wallets start feeling the pressure!  However, the way we shop can affect more than just our bank balances. In fact, our patterns of consumption – the way we purchase, use and dispose of goods – can have a significant effect on the economy, the environment and our own livelihoods.

A paper released by the Australia Institute has me understanding that, in Australia, over $10 billion every year is spent on goods that we never use – clothes and shoes we never wear; DVDs we never watch; food we never eat  – and that nearly 20 million tonnes of waste ends up in landfill each year (that’s $10 billion a year that we’re spending on, literally, rubbish). By way of comparison, this amount exceeds that spent annually by the Australian government on universities and roads combined. It seems as if we’re purchasing things that we have no use for, storing them until we realise this and then throwing them – and our money – away. It’s a wasteful, all too common cycle that’s self-perpetuating: when we finally get rid of what we never needed to begin with, we feel a material void and an urge to buy more to replace it!

For the month of October last year, I participated in Buy Nothing New month: an initiative that encourages Australians to think more carefully about what they purchase, where their purchased goods come from and what happens to them once thrown away. I took a pledge to, as the name might suggest, buy nothing new – food and other essentials aside – and take a little time to reflect on my habits as a consumer. I have always been an advocate for thrift, recycling and suchlike, but Buy Nothing New month was a total eye-opener in terms of realising how much waste is created in Australia every year as a result of mindless consumption. Don’t get me wrong: I love shopping as much as the next young woman with too many pairs of shoes in her wardrobe, but I am now committed to cutting back on the things I don’t need (so that I’ll have time and money for the things I do need!).

In the midst of absent-mindedly refreshing the Facebook homepage yesterday, I came across a blog that has inspired to me to continue being super-thrifty. Aptly named Make It Do, a determined New York woman is documenting her experiences as she buys nothing “except what I've used up or worn out” for 2012 in its entirety. It sounds like a mammoth task, but she’s written herself guidelines and made a few exceptions so that she doesn’t go without the essentials. Her mission statement, she writes, is not necessarily about spending less or no money: rather, to think more carefully about purchases made and to try and “make do” with what is already available. For those with a thrifty (or simply curious) mind, this blog is a definite go-to.

I don’t think you need to be a genius, an economist or a hippie to understand the implications of over-consumption. Many of the world’s resources are limited: if we continue to throw them away without thinking, said resources are going to diminish and, one day, disappear. What may be the tricky thing to understand, I think, is the ways in which one person can make any sort of difference. It’s unreasonable to suggest that my being more resourceful is going to save the world, but I know that the little things – such as making some of my own clothes, buying others second-hand and donating what I no longer wear – are definitely going to save my bank account and supply me with some serious peace of mind. What do you think?

Read more by Morgan

Why I Love Books

Sometimes I worry about the future of books. Not the books themselves, as I truly believe that libraries and the written word will not become extinct for a long time. What I worry about is whether or not young people are reading them.
 
I am a fanatic book lover myself and have been for as long as I can remember. For me, books are more than just some paper with words on them. They contain stories and lives and truths and whole universes. Fiction or non-fiction, children’s or adults, books have the power, if you let them, to change your thinking. Books can inspire you, cause tears of happiness or sadness, infuriate you, ignite passion, create longing, teach you something you didn’t know, show truth and leave you with the overwhelming sense that there is hope.

It astonishes me what clever people can create with words. And books are the evidence of that.

So, regarding how I feel towards books, I hope you can understand how I feel sad when I talk to teenagers who have a negative attitude towards reading. Maybe it’s just some of the people I know, but when the response I get to my passionate book rants is “Why would I read it if I can just watch the movie?” I feel like the world of English teachers has failed me.

My reaction to that retort is of course, “A movie based on a book is simply that, based. It is only adaption that has intentionally left out detail to adapt it to the screen. The fine details of the plot and often the whole truth of the characterisation can be found in the book and book alone. There is nothing wrong with an adaption, but it does not compare to the entirety of the book.”

I know English teachers are not (solely) to blame for this, but what is more distancing from the world of literature than Macbeth at sixteen years of age?

Teenagers are not dumb. In fact, I think they are even smarter than adults. And often more open.  But somewhere, with some people, insolence towards books has been established.  And I want it to stop. Teenagers are at a time in their life when books should have a prominent role. Books are not boring. And if you think that you are clearly reading the wrong ones.

Even fiction books contain truth. And in my opinion, some of the best novels can be found in a category known as Young Adult. YA fiction is directly written for people aged around fourteen to mid twenties or so and targets our experiences and I think, in some way, confirms that what we are experiencing is okay. Some of my favourite books are from this genre.

A book I read and re-read again and again in my first few years of high school was a book called Raincheck on Timbuktu by Kirsten Murphy. It’s not a work of literary genius, but to me it was my book. No book is the same to two people. Everybody has a different reading experience, a different interpretation of events and different emotions towards characters. Raincheck on Timbuktu was a story that I just identified with at that age and that period of my life. I still genuinely like it now, and reading it instills me with a contented feeling that this book gave me hope at that time of my life. That’s what books can do.

Please don’t argue that books are irrelevant. All books have relevancy, obviously some more than others. But most importantly, books have incredible relevancy to youth.

I am quite known to yell at people about books, and I feel this is no exception. I have three books for you to read (presuming you refuse to read the seven Harry Potter books) that will completely change your perception of the power of books.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Read these and then you will understand books forever.
 
Read more by Lauren

Settling into a new school year

The idea of waking up at 6:30 in the morning and having to get ready for school, truly feels like a nightmare for me. During the holidays I rarely sleep before midnight and my “internal body clock” has shifted everything about 3 hours later than it would be, if school was in session.

Settling into school is going to be a whole lot harder than waking up on time. Especially with me-Since I’m starting college at a new, GIANT school. I’m a little bit worried about going to college. What will it be like? How are the teachers? Will I get lost? Will it be too hard?

At the end of high-school the teachers gave us the YOU HAVE TO START THINKING ABOUT YOUR FUTURE speech, and to tell you the truth… I really didn’t think too hard about it. I spent about 2 weeks figuring out which subjects would help me get into University and I simply wrote them onto a form and handed it in to my teacher. Now that I’ve received my school books - Which roughly weigh the same as a small school bus - I realize that the next 2 years of education practically choose my path in life. I can either become a successful business woman… Or sell golf balls for the rest of eternity… Great. What a pleasant thought.

For a high school student, settling into school will probably mean-finding your locker, trying to remember your locker combination and hoping your friends are in your classes. I remember thinking about all these things and feeling pretty relaxed… For me, holidays went extremely slowly. I felt like I had WAY too much time on my hands. Now I feel like my life is going way to fast and I wish I had more time to figure out the pathway I want to take. Although college completely frightens me, I am still looking forward to it as a challenge. A challenge I hope to overcome. I want to succeed in life and live up to all of my goals and college is something that will help me with this challenge.

Going to a new school at a new level I need to know how I am going to handle any sticky situations I may get myself into. Such as: Running late to class, being unorganized, handing work in late… Not handing work in at all.. These are all problems I could face. I think in order to keep myself calm and under control I need to be on top of things and know exactly what I need, when I need it and where. I believe if I feel more comfortable in my learning environment I will learn better, so I am going to try and make as many new friends as possible. I know that I am not the only person who is going to feel a bit overwhelmed at a new school and that makes me feel a little more at ease.

College is going to be exciting and a brand new experience. Although it will be overwhelming at first I know that there are others who are feeling the same as me. Starting up a new school routine is always hard and takes a lot of effort but I know that it will all be worth it in the end.

Read more by Grace

Youth and the Media

What do you think of when you see the word ‘youth’? or the words ‘Young people’? what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Really, think about it, because what people think of youth is slowly changing.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Youth is a stage of life characterised by rapid psychological and physical transition, where young people progress from being dependent children to independent adults’ and it goes on to say: ‘Young people may be inclined to experiment and take risks that could impact on their own health and well being and have consequences for others’.  The Australian Bureau of Statistics is a pretty important website, and with such a negative comment about youth in the very first paragraph, it leaves room to question what other generations and what our own generation thinks of us.

These days, it seems like us Generation Y and Generation Z kids have a bit of a reputation. I asked my friends on facebook what they thought of ‘youth’ and ‘young people’ and the responses I got do not paint a pretty picture. Words most commonly associated with youth were ‘bogan’, ‘disrespectful’, ‘disgrace’ and there was a mention of the stereotypical image of a swearing, smoking, baggy clothes wearing teenager. Now think back to the question I first asked you, is this what you thought of youth?

Although this description does fit some people in the community, the important word here is ‘some’. There are only a few individuals in society that create this reputation for young people. I’m thinking Corey Worthington here! And unfortunately, the media loves guys like Corey Worthington. A quick Google News search of youth came up with numerous news articles that mentioned young people stabbing each other and getting drunk. Is this what you think about young people?

Sadly, there wasn’t many articles on all the amazing work young people do! For example, the Oaktree Foundation and Vision Generation. The Oaktree Foundation and Vision Generation are youth organisations completely run by people aged 15-26, by people just like you and me! The Oaktree Foundation alone has donated 2.5 million dollars to education for poverty stricken children overseas, and has directly benefited over 120,000 people, but rarely on the news do I hear about an individual donating their time to charity over an individual injuring another human being.

Also sidelined is the likes of local youth councils, grassroots youth movements and the actions of amazing young leaders. When have you ever heard on the news about a youth council making changes in their community, or a youth movement affecting politicians? Why it is that youth binge drinking is more of a regular topic on the news over young leaders? Why is it that all the negative behaviour that some youth display is being broadcast over the amazing work that goes on every day by many young people.

I am lucky enough to have met a woman that was a part of creating the 2006 Make Poverty History Concert. The concert was huge, with Kevin Rudd (who was at the time running for Prime Minister) getting up on stage and announcing his commitment to ending extreme poverty. The woman who helped organise this concert was 16 at the time. She was not by luck, some amazing young lady that knew famous people, or did not have extraordinary organisational skills. She was, and still is, simply a passionate and motivated person that was brave enough to give even the seemingly impossible a go.

I believe that young people can truly change the world. Look at Mark Zuckerberg. He created Facebook when he was 22 years old. Or closer to home, founder of Braaap Brad Smith started pursuing his dream when he was 16 years old, and now as a 21 year old, he owns a business that he created himself. Young people are not all ‘bogans’ and disrespectful to others, but instead a lot of youth are creating positive change  revolutionising the way older generations perceive Generation Y and Z kids.

What are your thoughts?

Read more by Teagan

Motivation

You know what’s ironic?

Yes, it took me a while to get motivated for this post.

It’s near the beginning of the new year, and along with all the hugs and happiness there is also a level of optimism, or perhaps hope, that comes with the fresh start. I believe this is where those cruel jokes called ‘New years resolutions’ had their genesis. Yet, we all end up partaking in these jokes in one way or another. So, I would like to address this topic, BUT, rather than look at the nature of new years resolutions (NYRs) I will give them the benefit of the doubt and talk about something far more fundamental. Motivation. Without it, the world sits on the couch and makes excuses. I sit on the couch and make excuses. Let’s have a look at what motivation might be, how we get/acquire it and some ways to maintain it.

So what the heck is it? For me right now, I figure I can assess how I’m feeling presently, unmotivated, and then just give an opposite of that. So here goes: Energetic, not-sleep-deprived, alert, self-disciplined, resolute, courageous, enthusiastic. But, really that’s just how I’m feeling. Even so, looking at what I just described as motivation, I realise it’s a mental choice. The manifestations may be physical, but the original spark is a choice. So often we blame our inability to act for the failure to act. These two are so very different though. I feel this is the case for motivation, for me anyway. We, I, blame a perceived inability for the fact that we don’t act. So often you hear the phrase (or use the phrase) ‘I just don’t feel motivated’. We say this as though motivation is like feeling hungry – it’s a bodily function that works on it’s own accord. I propose that motivation is not a bodily function outside our direct control, but rather it is a choice, and thankfully so! We usually find motivation when the task at hand excites us or has some very obvious and positively impacting effect on us.  I’m not saying this isn’t legitimate motivation, it is, but we must guard against the error of seeing these things as the only source for motivation. It can spring from future goals or a desire to correct past mistakes or missed opportunities. Motivation can come from a simple desire to do or be. It can be these things without the instant excitement or interest. These things are also choices. They are decisions that we make to act, think and be. It’s not a bodily function, (stop thinking what you’re thinking when I say that!) it’s a mental decision to be.

So, this illusive decision to be – how does one come to it? Is there a secret formula? Yes and no. Yes, in that there is something that is able to get us off the couch and get stuck into doing life. No, because that something is something unique to all of us and therefore cannot be prescribed like pills over the counter. That something I believe is value. What gets valued gets done. Take this post for example, I wasn’t motivated to do it originally. Yet you are reading it now, so how did I procure that motivation? Value spurred me into action. I value the position I have within Hello Noise, I value the commitment I’ve made to my colleagues, I value my commitment to myself to be something! (a really hipster blogger). I value my contribution to this group and my contribution to those who read this. I value my ability to do things with my life. It’s just that sometimes I forget these values. Sometimes I value the comfy couch more, but I know I’m not alone in this. Yet, most are blessed with the ability to reason, and with such an ability we can priorities our values. I believe this is the next step in motivation. First we understand and remember what we value, then we list those values according to their weight and worthiness. This however requires a great deal of honesty with ourselves. Though I’ll give us all the benefit of the doubt for now. I value the comfy couch and it’s warm and accepting embrace. It never judges, it never questions. It takes me in with no expectations. Clearly this value is weighty. On the other hand I value the commitment I’ve made to others. Through this commitment I’ve been given opportunity, possibility and a chance. I value my place in this group. As a part of this group I have friends, chance for growth, a chance to give and take. I value what this means for me. I can grow. I can be. I can live. I can interact with my life! So I have before me these two valued ‘things’. Now I must decide which is weightier, which is more worthy. The decision is simple. Yet here comes the crunch – we much choose to act on that. I believe motivation is a choice. We choose to be motivated, based on what we value and why. If you want motivation – draw it from what’s important to you. Draw it from who you are as a unique and interesting individual.

Finally, how do we maintain motivation – this is so hard. We can jump up off the couch, spending all our energy in the leap, only to flop back down. As noted in that analogy, being measured helps. Unfortunately motivation is not an infinite resource once it’s discovered. I believe it’s a renewable resource though! Therein lies our answer. Just like a flower needs water to grow and stay alive, our motivation needs constant revitalisation to remain vibrant. Remember what you value – protect and build up those values. It’s no use placing value in something that will soon pass away into insignificance for us. For example – don’t get a tattoo of the chick you met at the bar, or that delicious, masterly crafted double quarter pounder you ate (very easy to do I know) – their worth is fleeting. Make sure those sources of motivation, those valued things are of lasting meaning – family, close friends, your future, your past, yourself – [insert your own source here]. From these things will spring your desire to live, to act, to think and to be. From them and for them we find motivation.

It’s such a blessing that motivation is a choice. That means we have so much more control, but also input into it. I can choose to be motivated. That for me is a great comfort. So, as the new years rolls on by, I’m going to seriously reconsider those things of value in my life. Then, I’ll act on them. Here’s hoping. I wish you all a great new year and I hope you all find motivation and keep it alive!

So tell me, what motivates you to ‘get off the couch’?